New Year’s Day Parade

Tony Arbour: Will the Mayor give serious consideration to waiving the ULEZ charge, on a temporary basis from 31 December 2019 through to 1 January 2020, for those vehicles necessary for the New Year’s Day Parade as many organisations will be coming into the centre of London with floats, marching bands and associated support transport to participate in the event?

The Mayor: The New Year’s Day parade is a wonderful event and I really appreciate the contribution of the organisations coming into the Capital to participate. However, to waive the ULEZ charge for these vehicles would contradict the scheme’s objective.
The ULEZ operating hours reflect the scheme’s objective of reducing vehicle emissions and improving air quality for Londoners. Air pollution from vehicles is a problem at all times, and so, in order to optimise the benefits of the scheme, the ULEZ must apply at all times.
The ULEZ will not operate on Christmas Day due to the extremely limited public transport options available; this is not the case on New Year’s Day. Transport for London also has to consider the number of similar events that take place in London throughout the year and the fairness and practicalities of waiving the charge for one event but not others, as well as the increased volume of vehicles that would potentially travel into the ULEZ should we offer such an exemption to all vehicles.